Cleveland



N.-W. THOMAS,

I PRESS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, I909- RENEWED JUNE 3| I916.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

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, PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1909- R ENEWED JUNE 3.1916.

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APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1909. RENEWED JUNE 3.191s.

a Patented. Aug. 15, 1916.

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PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19,1909- RENEWED JUNE 3,1916.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- nnwron W. 'rnoluasor CLEVELAND, onto, Assronon TO DANA n. BENJAMIN, or i CLEVELAND, OHIO. I

ranss.

tasters.

. s ecification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 1L5, 19116.

Application filed April 19, 1909, Serial No; 490,820. Renewed June 3, 1916. Serial No. 101,642.

To all whom it may-concern:

Be it known that I, NEWTON W. THOMAS,

7 a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new' and useful Improvements in Presses, of which the following is a specification.

,In laundrying culfs orvwrist bands at= tached, to shirts or shirtwaists or other gar-' ments, other than by hand, it has. been customary up to the present time to iron them. flat or .partly bend them in a press of suitable size to receive the cuff, orto'pass them underneath a heated rollerwhich operates in conjunction with a suitable table or bed, and if it should be desired to have the cuff turned for receiving'l-ink cuff buttons, then the cuff must be curved at its center either by some additional means or else the wearer must bend the cufi around into shape usually with the result'that the outer cover? ing becomes cracked where the bend occurs.

'In fact if the cuffs are ironed flat and are then bent abruptly, the outer covering is broken in a very short period of time due to the undue strain on the. fabric.

The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a cufi' press for forming.

and ironing cufls "of the link or U-shaped type and the machine is of a construction such that the moistened cufi may be placed around a suitable former which is of the proper shape such that the edge of the cuif adjacent to the sleeve is formed in U-shape with the sides thereof substantially parallel while the'outside edge of the cufli', adjacent to the hand, diverges from the bend or center outward toward the corners thus causing the side edges to diverge outward 'fromthe wrist to the corners also. After the end has been placed upon this'member it, is then moved into contact with suitable ironing dies, which have ironing faces conformingto the configuration of the outside of the former and adapted to dry the cuff and put a finish on the outsideface thereof and set it in the link-shape ready to wear without further forming or shaping previous to applying the culf buttons.

The invention more specifically relates to a suitable former adapted to be moved up and down .by suitable foot 'operated' mechanism and to have the cuff bent over the same and to be moved up into contact with a pair of swiveled dies which are normally swung open, but which are arranged to move in against the former in a manner such that their finished faces conform to the configuration of the former.

Invention also resides in a flexible metal plate operatingin conjunction with the dies as theyclose about the former, the object of this plate being to form a continuous curved ironing surface bridging the gap between the upper inner edges of the dies and preventing any impression of the edges of the dies beingleft on the cuff about the curved portion thereof.

Invention also resides in the arrangement ofsuitable mechanism for quickly moving the former into engagement with the dies and creating an additional pressure at the end of such movement and finally causing a.

positive quick return of the parts to normal position. V The invention still further relates to certain details of construction employed in conjunction with several parts of. this machine and clearly set forth in the accompanying drawings, specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings'Figure 1 is a front elevation of .my device; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the center of the machine; Fig. 3, isan' enlarged view in side elevation of the treadle mechanism when in one position; Fig. 4 is a similar view with the treadle mechanism in another position; F ig 5 is an enlarged view of the former and dies in openposition'; Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the former and dies in closed treadle mechanism and the former operating shaft being a modification of the construction shown in'Fig. 2; and Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the former.

, Any preferred form and construction of r i parts may be employed in carrying out my invention, but I have shown one form in the drawings which meets the requirements with great efliciency, and in such embodiment -1'.

represents a suitable upright or column provided with a'base 2 and an upper extension or arm 3 together with a suitable faced por tion 4 and a suitable guiding bracket 5. The

arm 3 carries a pair of yoke-shaped members 3' one in the front and one in the rear, and these members are provided with suitable bearings 6, the two on the left, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, supporting one die member7, and the two on the right ,supportinga die 8. Each of these dies is provided with a chamber 9 upon the inside and with hollow trunnions 10 passing out through the bearings 6 in the yokes. Communicating with the opening of one of the trunnions of each die member and integral therewith and upon the inside is a downwardly extending pipe 11 fora purpose to be described. Each die member is still further provided with an ironing face 12 both of which are curved at their upper edges and diverge fromtop to bottom and from the front outward toward substantially at an obtuse angle to each therear in a lateral direction so that when they are swung inward toward the center their front edges are substantially parallel and near together while the back and bottom edgesdiverge outward toward :the lower back corners, the back edges being farther apart throughout than the front edges, as shown. The substantially parallel front edges are shown in Fig. 1 and the. diverging and much more widely separated back edges are shown in Fig. 6. The forward end of' other. Secured to these dies is an ironing plate 17 which is of thin metal and is adapted to conform readily to the configuration of the inner ironing faces of thedies and it is normally held in position relative thereto by means of lips 18 extending up upon the front faces of the die'members and provided with slots 19 for receiving screws 20 secured in the dies. The operation of this plate and its object will be given later.

, Mounted upon the finished .face portion 4 is a guiding member 21 which is provided with a vertical opening 22, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and having at the top and bottom thereof stufling boxes 23 and 24.

These stuffing boxes receive a vertical shaft 25" which, as shown in Fig. 2, is'p'rovided with avertically disposed opening 26 connected by a port 27 with a longitudinal groove 28 in the inner wall of the guiding member. This groove 28 communicates with an opening 29 to which a suitable steam sup- "ply pipe may be connected. The shaft 25 is further provided with a vertically disposed this former is curved as shown.

opening'30 connected by aport 31 with a vertical groove 32 which, in turn, is in communication with an opening 33 in which an exhaust pipe may be inserted. The upper end of this shaft has mounted upon it a platform 34 which is provided with a palr of bearings 35 and a pair of bearings 36 and the axes of these two pairs of bearings are at an angle to each other as shown. Mounted upon a shaft 38 in each pair of bearings 35 and 36 is a roller 37 provided with hooks 39 for a purpose to be described. Upon the projected end of each of these shafts 38 is a ratchet wheel 40 adapted to be engaged by a suitable pawl 41. The object of these rollers and their pawls, ratchet wheels and hooks will be later fully set forth.

Mounted within the pairs of bearings 35 and 36 and uponthe platform 34 is a block 42 having an opening 43 therein, shown in dotted lines in Fig; 8, into which the shaft 25 having the openings-26 and 30 extends. This block is provided with a vertically disposed hollow former 44 which is best shown 'in Fig. -5 and in plan in Fig. 8. This former is narrow at its front and the side edges .at this point are nearly parallel while the side faces diverge from these front edges backward to edges which are a greater distance apart and diverge outward slightly from top to bottom.. The upper portion of Suitable ears 45 are pi'dvided'at the base and on each side of the former and they are adapted to receive rods 46. Upon this former is a suitable padding of felt47 and an outer facing 48 of canvas or other similar material which is drawn down under the rods 46 with the 7 ends passing over the corresponding rollers or drums 37 and secured upon the hooks of these drums. This facing or outer covering may be tightened by rotating the rollers and holding them in such position by the use of the ratchet and pawl construction already described. a p g It will be seen from theforegoing construction that as the dies 7 and 8 hang in their open position, as shown in Fig. 5, with the ironing plate bent slightly therefrom and the cuff is placed over the former and'held tightly down upon the same and the former is moved up, that it will cause the cuff to engage the ironing plate and finally draw the dies in close against the cuff and force it upon the former and since the former may be heated by means ,of the connections and openings in the shaftand sincethe dies are -heated, then the cuff will be ironed in proper form. The cuff formed by this machine, is, of course, the flat form of cuff usually worn at the present time attached to shirts.

In order to impart an up and down movement to the former, suitable treadle and operating mechanism is provided and it may be applied directly to the lower end of the shaft by'telescoping a reduced portion 25 thereof into a part of the treadle operating mechanism tobe described or it may be applied by means of a yielding connection.

In employing the latter construction the shaft 25 is provided with an opening 49 'extending well up into the shaft, but not to the point where the ports 27 and 31 enter, and the lower end of the shaft is provided with a ring 50 threaded onto'the end of the shaft and provided with an inwardly projecting flange 51 for a purpose to be described. Passing through the opening within the flange 51 is a rod 52 having ahead 53 on the upper end thereofand fitting the inner bore of thesopening 49 and adapted for engagement with the flange 51 in its downward movement. This rod is provided with a collar 54 held in place by a suitable set screw 55 and arranged tohave mounted between it and the ring 50 a coil'spring 56 which normally tends to hold the head '53 upon the flange 51. The lower end of this rod is threaded at 57 and receives acheck nut 58 and a hand wheel 59 both of which are threaded on this portion of the rod. The rod 52 is still further provided with a longitudinal key way 69 for a purpose to be described. The hub of the hand wheel is adapted to bear upon the upper edge of a shank'61 provided with an opening 62 to re ceive loosely the end of the rod 52' which may slide freely therein but is held against rotary movement relativethereto by the reduced end 63of a screw 64 passing through a b0ss'65 forminga part of the shank and into the key way 60, and is held against longitudinal-movement, after adjustment, by the same screw 64 when it is screwed up.

A set screw 26 may be used in the other construction for engagement with the reduced end portion 25.

The shank 61 is provided with laterally projecting bosses 66 to which are pivoted suitable links 67 which normally hang down at a slight angle to the vertical as will be hereinafter set forth and have inwardly projecting pins 68 engaging side faces of guiding flanges 69 forming a part of a treadle member 70 pivoted upon a suitable shaft 71 in the base. The links are further provided at their lower ends with shoulders 67 for a purpose to .be described. This .treadle member 70 has a foot arm 7 2' and a segmental arm 73 having gear teeth 74 upon the periphery thereof meshing with gear teeth 75 on a crankarm segment 7 6. mount- 'of' and carrying upon each projecting portion a friction roller'8 1. Both of these rollthe curved portion 83, and the normal position of the crank arm 79 isthat shown in Fig. 2, so that upon the rotation of the crank arm in a clockwise direction the cam mem her and its shank will be moved upward until the crank armis in a vertical position as shown in Fig. 4. When the crank arm 79 and its friction rollers are in the position shown in Fig. 2 or in normal position, however, the friction rollers are between the cam face 82 and inwardly projecting flanges 84 carried by side members 85 formed integral with the cam member 83. These flanges extend from the end of the cam member nearly to the vertical center of the shank, so that when the crank arm is moved in a counter clockwise direction .from vertical position, it will engage the upper faces of these flanges and pull the cam member and its shank downward if there should be any tendency toward their being held againstmoving downward. The treadle member 7 O is further provided with pins 86, one on each side, adapted to engage at a certain time in the cycle of movement of the device under the shoulder 67 of the links 67 as will later be described. The treadle member is still further provided with an ear 87 provided with a slot 88 adapted to receive a pin 89 carried by'a treadle bar 90 having a foot arm 91. The normal position of the foot arm 72 of the treadle member 70, when the crank arm 79 is in normal position, is upward, as shown in Fig. 2, while the normal position of the treadle bar 90 is downward with the ear87 downward and the pin '89 in the left end of the slot 88. Let us assume, for example, that ,the former is down and the treadle mechanism is in normal position with the foot arm 72 up and the foot arm 91 down, then after a cufi' has been placed over the former the operator in placing his foot upon the treadle arm 72 moves it downward causing the segmental teeth 74 to engage the teeth 75 of the crank arm and rotate it in a clockwise direction, thus causing the friction rollers 81 to engage the face 82 of the cam member and move it upward. While vthis is taking place, the links 67 are being held at a slight angle to the vertical by reason of the pins 68 moving up the side faces 'of the guiding flanges 69. The upward movement of the cam member, however, moves the shank 61, the rod 52 and through 1 the spring 56, the shaft 25, which carries the platform 34 upon which the former is mounted, until the former moves the dies in toward the sides thereof and against the cuff, in the meantime, however, the links 67 carried by the shank 61 have been moved up also until the edge of the shoulders 67 is slightly above the pins 86 so that a further movement of the treadle member carries the pins under the shoulders 67 and causes the links to be moved into vertical position or into parallel alinement with the axis of the shank and rod thus causing a final increased being straightened produces a great pressure upon the cuff and locks the parts in this position. During the downward movement of the treadle arm'72, in the above described operation, the treadle bar 90 has been shifted into its upper position, as shown in dotted lines in the drawings, by reason of the pin 89 being engaged by the walls of the slot 88 in the car 87 uponthe treadle member so that to release the parts, which are locked as stated, the operator places his foot upon the treadle arm 91 and moves it downward causing the pin 89 to engage the walls of the slot 88 in the ear 87 and shift the treadle member to the rear, or in a clockwise direction, thus breaking the toggle and causing the crank arm to be'moved in a counter clockwise direction until the rollers carried by this crank arm engage the flanges carried by the cam when the foriner and the connections between it and the shank will be drawn a downward positively into normal position.

The machine is then ready for another operation. It is, of course, understood that the steam has previously been applied to' the several parts in the manner already indicated, and that the dies and former are sufficiently heated to produce effective ironing.

Having describedmyinvention, I claim 1. In a cuff and wrist band press, in combination, a former, a pair of dies cooperating with the former and having faces adapted to cooperate with the faces of the former, and an ironing plate interposed between the dies and adapted to form a continuous ironing surface about the surface of the former and bridge the gap between the dies.

2. In a cuff and wrist band press, in combination, a former, a pair of dies cooperating therewith and adapted to close tightly against the surface thereof, and an ironing plate secured to the faces of the dies interposed between the dies and the former and adapted to move therewith tightly about the former and to provide a continuous ironingwith the dies, a link also connected with the former and normally held out of straight line position, a pin carried-by the-operating member and adapted to engage the link and bring it into straight line position and thereby bring about an increased pressure at the end of the ironing operation.

' 5. In a cuif and wrist band press, in combination, a frame, suitable ironing dies, a former cooperating therewith and movably mounted, a treadle member mounted in the frame, suitable gearing between said treadle member and said former whereby the latter is moved upward into engagement with the dies when the treadle member is moved, a

link connected to the former at one end and normally held out of parallelalinement with the vertical axis of the former, and a pin carried by said treadle member and adapted to engage said link and bring the same into straight line position thereby exerting a final increased pressure between the dies and the former.

6. In a cuif and wrist band press, in combination, a frame, suitable ironing dies, a formercooperating therewith and movably mounted, a suitable treadle member, gearing between said treadle member and said former whereby it may be moved upward into engagement with the dies, a link connected to the former at one end and having a shoulder at its lower end, a guide secured to the treadle member and adapted to hold the lower end of said link out of parallel alinement with the axis of the former, and a projection carried bythe treadle member and adapted to engage the shoulder on the end of said link and shift the same into straight line position and thereby create an increased pressure between the former and the dies.

7. In a cult and wrist band press, in combination, a frame, suitable ironing dies, a

former cooperating therewith and movably y mounted, a treadle member, a crank arm pivoted-to the frame, suitable gearing between said crank arm and said treadle member, a cam cooperating with said crank arm, n

a rod between the former and said cam whereby upon the movement of the crankarm said former is shifted upward into engagement with the dies, a link secured to the normally holding said link out of parallel alinement with the-axis of the former and its rod, and a pin mounted upon the treadle member and adapted to engage under the end of said link and cause an added increased pressure at the end of the upward movement of the former.

8. In a cuff and wrist band press, in combination, a frame, suitable ironing dies, a shaft mounted in said frame, a former on the end of said shaft and cooperating with the dies, a treadle member mounted in the frame, a crank arm mounted in the frame, a cam secured to said shaft and cooperating with the crank arm whereby upon the movement of the latter the former is shifted into engagement with the ironing dies, suitable gearing between said crank arm and said treadle member, a guide secured to the treadle member, a link secured to said shaft and having atits lower end a portion engaging said guide whereby it is normally held out of fparallel alinement with the axisv of the sha and a pin' carried by said treadle member and adapted to engage the end of said link and produce an added pressure between the former and its dies.

9. In a cuff and wrist band press, in combination, a frame, a die .carried thereby, a bracket extending from said frame and provided with an opening fora shaft and two opposed elongated grooves in the wall about said opening together with exhaust. and supply ports leading to said grooves and passing out through the bracket, a shaft slidably mounted in the opening in said bracket and provided with two longitudinal openings one connected by a port with one of said grooves and the other by a port with the other groove in the bracket, a former mounted upon the 'upper end of said shaft and having an opening therein communicating with the openings in said shaft, and stuffing boxes secured in said bracket about said shaft.

10. In a culf and wrist band press, in combination, a die, a former, a pad about said former, a rool on each side and at the base of said former, a roller in parallel alinement with each rod, suitable hooks provided upon said rollers, means for holding them against rotation 1n one dlrectlon, and a covering for said former secured to the hooks and passing under the rods and over the former.

11. In a press, the combination of cooperating pressing members one of which is movable, a slidable actuating member connected to said movable pressing member, a gear segment operatively connected to said actuating member, and an oscillatory gear segment for actuating said first named gear segment.

12. In a press, the combination of cooperating pressing members one of which is movable, a slidable actuating member connected to said movable pressing member, cooperating intergeared segments, means for operating one, thereof, and means operaactuating member.

13. In a press, the combination of co--- operating pressing members one of which is movable, a slidable actuating member connected to said movable pressing member, co-

operating intergeared segments, means for i operating one thereof, and an arm rigid with the other segment and operatively connected to said actuating member.

14. In a press, the combination of cooperating pressing members one of which is movable, a slidable actuating member connected to said movable pressing member, a pivoted treadle. having a gear segment rigid therewith, and a gear segment operated thereby and connected to said actuating member. 7

15. In a press, .the combination of cooperating pressing members one of which is movable, a slidable'actua-ting member connected to said movable pressing member, a. pivoted treadle having a' gear segment rigid therewith, and .a gear segment operated thereby and provided with a rigid arm arranged when actuated to move said actuating member.

In testimon whereof I afix my signature in presence 0 two wltnesses,

, NEWTON. w. THOMAS,

Witnesses:

' C. H. TREsoH,

AL'roN I-I. lBEMIs. 

